Concord’s One-Year Anniversary: Unpacking Sony’s $400 Million Catastrophe

The failed co-op shooter Concord, just marked its one-year anniversary, and 50 weeks since its cancellation.

On the one-year anniversary of what is considered Sony Interactive Entertainment’s greatest failure, the memory of this epic blunder remains a chilling example for the gaming industry on what happens when developers lean too far into identity politics at the expense of the game experience.

Overconfidence Behind the Scenes

On April 20, 2023, Playstation Head Herman Hulst, announced Sony’s acquisition of Firewalk Studios. He wrote a blog post welcoming the team into the “Playstation Studios Family.”

A screenshot of the character Bazz in Concord (2024), Firewalk Studios

“I’m excited to announce that we’ve expanded our relationship with Firewalk Studios and are thrilled to welcome them to PlayStation Studios,” he wrote. “Firewalk is home to a remarkably talented team of creatives who have launched some of gaming’s most celebrated experiences, and they’re already hard at work on their first original AAA multiplayer game for PlayStation.”

That “AAA multiplayer game” would go on to become the hero shooter known as Concord, which would be the debut title for Sony’s newly acquired Firewalk Studios. 

A screenshot from Concord (2024), Firewalk Studios

Sony Interactive Entertainment President and CEO Jim Ryan was also not immune to the excitement, according to a company press-release:

“Firewalk Studios is led by a world-class team that is highly experienced and deeply passionate about creating exceptional multiplayer games that foster memorable shared experiences,” he continued. “I’m confident the studio’s upcoming project will be a robust addition to PlayStation Studios’ portfolio, and its live service and technology expertise will be instrumental in helping grow PlayStation’s reach.”

Before anything had really been announced about the project, some gamers were getting hopeful. 

A screenshot from Concord (2024), Firewalk Studios

With a studio consisting of numerous industry veterans, management at Sony was confident that the project would be an absolute success. So confident, in fact, that they even doubled the existing budget to around $400 million, and reportedly dubbed it the “Future of Playstation.”

Beginning of the End for Concord

On this anniversary of the Concord catastrophe, though, it’s clear that this confidence was wildly misplaced.

With a peak of less than 700 players, the game’s launch went so poorly that it had to be shut down after just two weeks.

A screenshot from Concord (2024), Firewalk Studios

Players challenged themselves to reach max level before the inevitable shut down. Instead of playing, though, they decided to start jumping off cliffs in-game, as it was the fastest way to farm XP.

This is literally every match of Rivalry in Concord rn because this is the fastest way to earn XP for the Platinum 😂😂 pic.twitter.com/BZ12OV7lc1

— Radec (@realradec) September 3, 2024

Director Ryan Ellis stepped down from the company as Firewalk itself was promptly shut down by Sony. The Museum of Failure even deemed it worthy of an exhibit, due to its status as one of the most significant flops in video game history.

With so much talent, it seemed like the project was destined for greatness, so what went wrong?

A screenshot from Overwatch 2 x Cowboy Bebop (2024), Blizzard Entertainment

In 2016 the gaming world saw the release of the immensely popular hero shooter Overwatch, which would go on to set the stage for the genre, with its smooth gameplay and memorable characters. Firewalk sought to capture that audience, and in the same year, began developing Concord, which would take almost eight years to complete.

Due to it’s extended development, and its release in 2024, the game was entering a somewhat difficult market. Hero shooters were immensely popular in years prior, but by this time the rush was already ending. This meant Firewalk needed to prove that its game was worth buying.

It failed.

The Game Had Nothing to Offer

Concord received an overwhelmingly negative response on sites like Metacritic, with the user score on this anniversary totaling a measly 1.7 out of 10. from gameplay to visuals, most players saw it as a poor imitation of Overwatch. They disliked the monotony of dealing with menus and character select screens which would pester them every time they died, jamming up the flow of the game.

A screenshot from Concord (2024), Firewalk Studios

Many disliked the character designs, stating that they were bland, ugly, and downright uninspired. A prominent example, which garnered support from at least 14k individuals on Reddit alone.

With nothing to hook players on, and a $40 cost of entry, most players deemed that it just wasn’t worth the risk, since every major competitor within the genre was free to play, such as Overwatch 2 or Valorant.

A Hard Lesson for the Industry

This anniversary, in the wake of Firewalk’s shuttered doors and dead Concord servers, the story of the game’s collapse should serve as a cold warning against overconfidence and complacency within the industry. The modern era is dominated by massive free-to-play games, and success won’t merely come from big budgets and safe planning.

A screenshot from Concord (2024), Firewalk Studios

It can only be found when studios choose to give players what they actually want: good characters, original ideas, and well-timed execution.

What are your thoughts on Concord’s failure? Make sure to let us know in the comments below!